Monsters
by RedHood97
Summary: Maggie Carpenter is walking home from class when she attacked. Attacked by a creature of pure darkness. A creature of Primordial Darkness. But she is saved by someone who she didn't even know existed. I'll give you three guesses who. Disclaimer: I own nothing, it is the property of Jim Butcher.
1. Chapter 1

Monsters

Maggie walked slowly down the street. She is seventeen years old and still lives at home with her parents, Michael and Charity and her dog, Mouse. Anyway, she is walking down the streets of Chicago after class, and its getting dark. Normally this wouldn't be a problem because her dad would pick her up, but he was working a little later on a contract and wouldn't be able to pick, Charity was also busy, and all of her brothers and sisters had either moved away from the city or were just busy with work or school. So she walked. But what she didn't know was that she didn't walk alone. Something followed her in the shadows. Something of the shadows. She turned down an alley that would lead her nearer to home. She was almost at the end of the alley when it struck. She was suddenly shoved up against the wall, hard. The breath was driven out of her lungs and she gasped. She tried to push against the wall and fight back like Aunt Murphy had taught her, but whoever was holding her was ridiculously strong. "Let go of me!" she screamed, hoping to attract help. But it was evening and everyone had gone home. All of a sudden the weight that was holding her was gone and she heard a silvery voice thunder, "Remitto, ad umbras!" She turned and saw a tall man standing between her and … it looked like a cross between a bear and a serpent. And it was made out of shadow and darkness. It took a step forward but the man didn't back down. He raised his hand and barked, "Lux!" She was shocked and amazed to see a ball of light form in his hand. The shadow-bear-serpent-thing backed away, alternating between hissing and snarling. "This is not over, Shaman. She shall be ours." The man glared and growled back, "Over my dead body, Tenebris." He then sent the ball of light shooting forward and the shadow creature shattered into shards of darkness. He stood staring for a moment before turning to her and saying, "Are you ok?" She nodded, dazed, and tried to climb to her feet but stumbled and fell. The man caught her and said, "Come on, I'll take you home." He then pointed his index finger at her and whispered, "Somnus." As soon as he said it she slipped calmly into a dreamless sleep.

When she awoke she was in her own bed, in her own room. She got up slowly, her shoulders hurt. She stumbled down stairs and ran into her mother, Charity. "Where do you think you are going, young lady?" She asked calmly. I pointed to the kitchen silently and she shook her head and said, "No, go to your room and I will bring you something, you need rest after what happened." I look at her and finally speak, "What did happen? It all seems a blur, and I must have hallucinated or something…" Charity looked at her and appeared to thing before answering. "Last night, you were attacked. By something that wasn't human at all. And you were saved by someone who isn't _entirely_ human. From what I understand you attacked by a creature called an Echthros. A creature of pure darkness and evil. And you were saved by a wizard. A wizard called Harry Dresden. A wizard who… a wizard who is your father."


	2. Chapter 2

Monsters

"My father?" Maggie asked slowly. "But that wasn't Dad, Dad was late working at a contract. That's why I had to walk home. It couldn't have been Dad, he looked nothing like Dad. He was tall and wearing a trench coat. But that couldn't have been real! Things like that don't happen, they don't exist!" She was begin to panic and hyperventilate. It was a problem she had had since childhood, if something upset or worried her she would have a panic attack. Charity hugged her and began to calm her down. When she was calm Charity said, "Yes, Dad was working late. But…," She paused a moment before continuing, "We are not your biological parents. Don't you remember the Mendoza's?" At the mention of the name she did remember, she also remembered the monsters that came and took her. "What happened to me?" She whispered. And Charity told her. How her parents were Harry Dresden, professional wizard, and Susan Rodriguez, reporter turned Half-vampire guerilla fighter. How she was taken in by the Mendoza's to be safe. How the Red Court of Vampires had found out about her and killed her family and taken her. How her parents had launched an assault upon the heart of the Red King's power. How her father had to sacrifice her mother to save not just her, but also the entire world from vampires. How her father had to make deals with faeries to save her. How he had given her to them to be safe. How he had arranged his own death to escape the Fae deal. How he had been brought back. How he had to become the Winter Knight. How he had cut all contact with friends and allies to protect them from Mab, his Queen. How no one had seen or spoken to him in nearly a decade. "Where is he?" I ask. She looks at me sadly and says, "Nobody knows. He moves around a lot. Nobody can seem to catch him or keep up with him. He is living in self-imposed exile to protect everyone both from Mab and from himself." Maggie felt confused and asked, "Why from himself?" Charity sighed and said, "Being the Winter Knight isn't just a job. It eats away at your soul and your mind until you are forever the property of your Queen. He knew that eventually he would turn to the bad and had to cut contact before that happened, to soften the blow." Maggie frowned and said, "Why would he make the deal? Why did he put himself through that?" Charity spoke two small words that made her realize the depth of her biological father's love, "For you."


	3. Chapter 3

Monsters

Maggie sat in her room and thought about Harry Dresden. She had looked him up online and found news articles from a decade ago that talked about cases he had solved (he was a private investigator, apparently) and how his apartment was burnt down and finally how he died. After that final date, the obituary, there was nothing. No mention of him since his death. He was completely off of the radar. I decided to talk to Aunt Murphy. Mom had said that Aunt Murphy was Harry's best friend.

She went to Aunt Murphy's house, all the while thinking about her father. From what she had heard and read he had been a successful investigator. And Wizard, she thought, turning the word over in her mind. Magic, it couldn't be real, it was impossible. But… it wasn't. She could remember the night she had been rescued. The night that her real mother had died. That thought caused hatred for her father to stir in her. She realized that he had to do it, but still. It was her mother.

She then realized that that night had caused her father to cast himself into exile and abandon everyone he had known and cared about. All because of what he had had to do. He was in penance, as her dad would say. Well, her adoptive dad. Well, her second adoptive dad.

She quickly reached the front door of Aunt Murphy's house and knocked on the woodwork. Aunt Murphy hadn't worked as a cop in years, apparently. She ran her own investigative business with Uncle Will and Uncle Thomas, although Uncle Thomas only provided the money needed and only helped on really difficult cases. She'd got her license by training under a man called Nick Christian, who ran Ragged Angels. A good man, she had said, but heavily damaged by everything that he had seen.

Aunt Murphy answered the door, looking the same as always. Barely five foot and dressed the same as always when at home, sweat pants and a baggy t-shirt. "Hi." She said brightly and invited Maggie in. She had a lot of time for her, no matter the situation. She was in the middle of a big case that could change her career, but Maggie was being bullied at school and she would immediately be there to help and support her. They went into the living room and sat down. "So, what can I do for you?" She asked. Maggie spent a minute lining up her thoughts before starting with, "Could you… could you tell me about my father?" Murphy's smile froze, it didn't leave her face but the colour left it, as did the warmth. Murphy sighed before replying, "Okay."

And for an hour, they talked. About her father and the life he had led and the work he had done. She told her of how she met him when she was a beat cop and he was still working for Ragged Angels; she told her of the times she had tried to arrest him and had once chipped one of his teeth; she told her of how he had saved her life and others thousands of times for little or no reward. By the end of the conversation Maggie realized something about her father. He was a good man.


End file.
